August 10 – August 15 Maastricht, Valkenburg and Brunsummerheide
From Gorssel we drove straight down to the southernmost part of the Netherlands – Limburg. We had a tiny apartment in Maastrict and enjoyed rides into the city, lovely city squares and scenic bridges and trails.And some of the best food we have eaten in Europe!
On the second day we rode out to Valkenburg… a beautiful hilly ride with interesting stops along the way including limestone kilns that created quicklime. When applied to acidic soil, the quicklime would neutralize the acidity, which is crucial for nutrient absorption by crops. It was a very effective way to make the soil more fertile and increase crop yields. The quicklime was also mixed with water to create a strong mortar and plaster for buildings, a role that was also vital in the area’s history.
Elevator over High Bridge
After exploring a bit of Valkenburg, we relocated to tiny B&B in a small town called Berg en Terblijt about halfway to Valkenburg so we could ride to other towns and to the forest park at Brunsummerheide.
We spent a day exploring Valkenburg including a tour of the “Velvet Cave” one of the oldest caves in this vast network of caves, dating from the 11th century. It’s one of the oldest caves in the area and is closely connected with the rich history of the Castle Ruins and is an important part of the network of passageways beneath the Castle Ruins. After a steep climb up about 10 stories of stariways in 90 degree heat, It was pitch black inside and 50 degrees inside. Luckily we came prepared. Tour guide recited a nonstop Dutch monology for over an hour, but at least there was a printed sheet in English that we could study before descending into the blackness.
Secret passageways
In times of siege, the secret passageways, which were only discovered in 1937, allowed the knights and their footmen to escape the castle and attack the enemy from behind or secretly bring supplies in. One legend tells of the Brabanders (natives of Brabant) who, laying siege to Valkenburg, could not understand why celebrations were still being held inside the castle walls even after a long period of siege. Little did they know that the troops inside were being supplied via the secret passageways… from Brabant, where the siege armies would soon discover that their lands had been plundered in their absence!
The Velvet Cave has many secrets and is a treasure trove of impressive wall murals, inscriptions, strange sculptures in the soft marlstone walls and a romantic chapel dating from the French period (18th century). In the Second World War, during the German occupation, the cave served as a hideout for the people of Valkenburg and for the American troops.
In 1944 UK and American troops (including General Eisenhower) liberated the area. Ike marched on to Berlin, but a number of American troops needed to Rest and Recooperate and were long overdue their R&R so remained behind. A good many toured the dark tunnels and left inscriptions on the walls… we saw many names with US cities: Cleveland, Atlanta, Grand Rapids, Denver… I tried to photograph them but it was too dark and the guide would not leave the lantern lit for photographs but I did get one of the profiles. One of the workers in the mine wanted to show his gratitude to the soldiers by doing cutouts of their profiles to leave in the cave and those are still there. I understood enough of the nonstop monologue to know the guide did not pause either his monologue or his lantern to give any credit or pause for flections for either the Brits or the Yanks… no tip for him.
Afterward we toured the Kasteel ruin and then enjoyed a lovely ride home along the Kliene Guel — the very same waterway that Ike had to cross to liberate Valkenburg.
Brunsummerheide forest
On our last day in the area we went to the Brunsummerheide forest and into the town where we discovered a network of accommodations called Europarcs that I wanted to check out for possible future trips. So I got a promising looking chalet right by the park for our return trip. We’ll see how that goes… might be a little too structured for us. As we travel this time we notice that all the lovely little independent French campgrounds we used to love so much have been bought up by huge mega-theme-parks who turned them into assembly-line attractions that are no longer appeal to us. We don’t’ know yet if Europarcs is better than the others or worse… We’ll find out for future trips. The ”chalets” appear to be owned by individuals. I asked Gemini and he said this:
EuroParcs acts as the asset manager: The company develops, operates, and manages the holiday parks, and importantly, they also manage the rental of your property on your behalf.
So this might be a reasonably beneficial thing for both owners and renters (as it was for us as owners when in 2001 we journeyed to La Rochelle France and purchased our 42-foot Fontaine Pagot catamaran in charter service with Tortola Marine Management for 7 years to pay for itself) or not. There are many schemes that benefit no one except the “Asset Manager” Since we are on the renter side we’ll be able to report on that aspect for interested readers. After some investigation it appears that it is great for renter-clients that include families and young children but not so sure it’s a fit for intrepid independent adventurers. Will report. …
